Corporate Growth Continues at Paul Hastings with Addition of Private Equity Finance Partner in Chicago

August 25, 2015

Chicago, IL -- Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that Private Equity Finance partner Maureen Sweeney has joined the firm’s Chicago office. She joins from Kirkland & Ellis, where she was a partner. Ms. Sweeney’s arrival closely follows the arrival of Chris Dickerson and Matt Murphy, who joined the firm’s Restructuring and Bankruptcy practice in Chicago, and the recent additions of Corporate partners in Hong Kong, New York, and London.

“We have devoted significant resources to growing a strong, market-recognized private equity, mergers and acquisitions and finance platform and Maureen’s addition marks another important investment in our Corporate practice,” said Elizabeth Noe, chair of the Corporate practice at Paul Hastings.

“With her burgeoning borrower-side finance practice, Maureen brings a strategic competitive asset to our Private Equity and other transactional practices, capitalizing on our recent arrivals of other transactional practitioners, and helps us continue to position the firm to compete at the highest level for work in one of the most active private equity markets in the U.S.,” said Jennifer Yount, chair of the Finance practice at Paul Hastings. “Since most transactions have a financing component, she can act for the borrower and sponsor, balancing our well-established Private Equity, Leveraged Finance and Restructuring practices, in both Chicago and other offices,” she added.

Ms. Sweeney focuses her practice on debt financing transactions. She represents private equity groups, commercial lending institutions, and other private and public companies in connection with the negotiation, structuring and documentation of secured and unsecured financing transactions for both borrowers and lenders, including senior, mezzanine and subordinated debt transactions; acquisition financings; and loan workouts and restructurings, including debtor-in-possession financings.

Paul Hastings has quickened the pace of lateral hiring in 2015, having added more partners to date in 2015 than were added in all of 2014. In the Corporate practice, the firm recently announced additions that include leading Collateralized Loan Obligation and Structured Finance partners, Scott Faga and Eugene Ferrer; the hires in London of Leveraged Finance partner Luke McDougall, and Private Investment Funds partner Duncan Woollard. In Hong Kong, Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity partners Douglas Freeman and Victor Chen recently joined. In New York, Global Project Finance chair Robert Kartheiser; Latin America and Capital Markets partner Cathleen McLaughlin; New York Mergers and Acquisitions chair, David Shine; and Mergers and Acquisitions partner, Samuel Waxman have joined within the past couple of months.

Paul Hastings’ Private Equity practice was recently recognized by The Legal 500 United States Awards 2015 as the Private Equity Buyouts Team of the Year in the United States. The practice was noted for its “particularly strong recent record in energy and healthcare, as well as in the business services, technology, and consumer sectors.”

Paul Hastings is a leading global law firm with a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Through a collaborative approach, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to client service, the professionals of Paul Hastings deliver innovative solutions to many of the world’s top financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.